Who
is the Holy Spirit?
In a crowded room, if you asked me to point out my
wife, I would say something like, “She is
the beautiful woman wearing a blue skirt and white top over near the library
doors.”
However, in a crowd, a number of people might
obscure my beautiful wife. In that case, I would start by saying, “She’s not the blonde one, or the really
tall one in front. No . . . behind them . . . there she is.” I would
weed out the impostors, and then continue with a description.
In the spiritual sense, the world has become overcrowded
with ideas regarding the Holy Spirit. So it’s equally helpful to start out
identifying who the Holy Spirit is not.
The Holy Spirit
is not an ambient force flowing from the presence of God like an esoteric mist.
The Holy Spirit's presence is not defined as a state of heightened
emotionalism, or excitement.
Neither is the Holy Spirit a life force,
flowing in and through all living beings, plants and animals, an construct
derived from the a blend of science fiction
The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as having
powerful force, comparing it to the wind. The wind cannot be seen. A person can see and feel the effects of the wind blowing through the trees,
but the tree movement is not the wind, only evidence of the wind’s presence.
The Holy Spirit
is neither a passive presence nor emotional excitement. The Holy Spirit
comes from God’s presence, but he is not God’s pervading divine fog floating
over the world.
The Holy Spirit is a person, separate and distinct from
whom Christians identify as God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ.
Together these three separate and distinct persons
form a triune godhead, or trinity that Christians refer to as God.
Each
separate and distinct personage has their own role in the Godhead and their own
personality, if you will. In the Bible, each is identified as an
individual, separate and distinct from the other.
For example, the
creation account in the book of Genesis says that ‘God’ created, the ‘Word of
God’ spoke, and the ‘Spirit of God’ was hovering over the waters. Together, the
Trinity was active in creating our world. This is the first example of
the triune godhead acting individual and corporately.
“In the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without
form and void, and
darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over
the face of the waters. 3 And God said, ‘Let there be
light,’ and there was light.” Genesis 1:1 English
Standard Version (ESV)
“Then God said, “Let us make man[a] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and
over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and
over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:26 English Standard
Version (ESV)
Footnotes: Genesis 1:26 The Hebrew word for man (adam) is the generic term
for mankind and becomes the proper name Adam
When Jesus, the son of God was on earth, his
baptism
Jesus was baptized in the river, the Holy Spirit descended on him in
the form of a dove, and The Father spoke from Heaven that this man was indeed
his beloved son.
”Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son;[a] with you I am well pleased.[b]’” Luke 3:21 English Standard Version (ESV)
Footnotes: a Luke 3:22 Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved b Luke 3:22 Some manuscripts beloved Son; today I have begotten you
Triune aspect of nature
When discussing this with friends, I’ve often been told that this concept of three individuals being one, yet remaining three separate and distinct persons was hard to comprehend. How can one person be three, and still be one?
When discussing this with friends, I’ve often been told that this concept of three individuals being one, yet remaining three separate and distinct persons was hard to comprehend. How can one person be three, and still be one?
While I agree that this construct is hard to wrap
your head around, this idea is not entirely foreign. Maybe God left us with the
following examples for the very reason of helping us understand his
nature.
If I were to
pour ice and water into a glass, and then put plastic wrap over the top, I
would have water, in three states in the same glass: solid water or ice, liquid
water, and water vapor trapped between the surface of the liquid and the
plastic. All are water, yet they act differently. The three states appear
different from one another; yet all are atomically water.
Most of nature’s elemental building blocks, gasses,
liquids and metals, can exist in a solid, liquid or gaseous state while
remaining fundamentally unchanged.
So we are not without examples of one
individual element taking three forms, while remaining identical to the
other. If water can be three forms and remain water, I can take a step
towards understanding a God who is the same.
In summary, the
Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity, which Christians refer to as
God. He is no more, no less God than the person referred to in the Bible
as Jehovah: God the Father, or Jesus Christ: God the son.
He is fully
divine, a distinct individual, and active in the world to convict us of our
need for God, as well as
Acts 5:3 “But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of
the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your
own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you
have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.’ 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last.
And great fear came upon all who heard of it.” English
Standard Version (ESV)
“Surely The
Presence Of The Lord”
Lanny Wolfe
lyrics
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.
I can feel God's mighty power and God's grace.
I can hear the brush of angel's wings,
I see glory on each face.
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.
In the midst of His children
The Lord said He would be.
It doesn't take very many
It can be just two or three.
And I feel that same sweet spirit
That I felt oft times before.
Surely I can say
I've been with My Lord
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.
I can feel God's mighty power and God's grace.
I can hear the brush of angel's wings,
I see glory on each face.
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.
There's a holy hush around us,
As God's glory fills this place.
I've touched the hem of God's garment,
I can almost see God's face.
And my heart is over flowing
With the fullness of God's joy.
And I know, without a doubt,
That I've been with the Lord.
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.
I can feel God's mighty power and God's grace.
I can hear the brush of angel's wings,
I see glory on each face.
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place
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